The Northern Powerhouse minister has hinted at his preference for a Greater Yorkshire devolution deal.
Wading into a long-running debate, Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy reportedly told a Hull City Council committee he would not sign off a separate deal for the councils in west Yorkshire.
Leeds Town Hall, in West Yorkshire
While he accepted that the Sheffield city region should remain separate, Mr Percy urged councillors in the rest of Yorkshire to overcome ‘childish’ political battles and ‘sniping’ to unify over a deal.
According to a local paper, Mr Percy said: ‘I am not going to sign off anything for Yorkshire if it leaves parts of the region behind.
‘I will not allow one area to do something that is damaging to the rest of the county.
‘I want a deal for Yorkshire that doesn't leave any area behind so read into that what you will.'
Mr Percy threatened to take the deal off the table if he was ‘messed about,’ warning he was ‘not prepared to go down the same road as the North East,’ where ministers pulled the plug after councillors failed to agree terms of a deal.
‘It shouldn't be about politics,’ he added. ‘It's about economic development. We should be using things like transport and planning to create an uplift for the common good.’
Mr Percy also hinted t his support for the Sheffield city region devolution deal, which was thrown off track after Derbyshire County Council objected to Chesterfield Borough Council’s decision to join the combined authority.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication, the MJ.
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